New Jersey Republican Gov.Chris Christie criticized former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a Florida fundraiser on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Christie, a rising star in Republican politics, is a supporter of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Gingrich’s chief rival for the GOP nomination. Now trailing Gingrich in the polls by a significant margin, Romney’s camp may have found an effective attack dog in the famously blunt Christie.
“Speaker Gingrich has never run anything,” Christie said to a crowd of Romney supporters in the Sunshine State. “He’s been a legislator. I have to tell you — I don’t think being a legislator is the best calling card.”
“Look at the guy we have in the White House now,” Christie continued, referring to President Obama. “He never ran anything and was a legislator.”
Christie then dismissed the newly popular Gingrich as a passing fad that would go the way of other one-time Republican presidential front-runners this year. Gingrich’s support in the polls, he said, were only “as solid as the Cain numbers were, as solid as the Perry numbers were, as solid as the Bachmann numbers were.”
When asked if he would consider running for vice president should Romney win the nomination, Christie demurred.
“If it is offered, I’d make the decision I thought was best for me and my family and the country,” he said.
“I can not imagine it happening,” he continued. “I think someone else will be running with Governor Romney. Not me.”